In October 1860, railroad engineer Theodore Judah looked out across California’s Sierra Nevada range, dreaming of a railroad that would connect the United States from coast to coast. It was the start of a decade-long endeavor to build the world’s first transcontinental railroad.
Two competing railroad companies would eventually begin construction, but laying nearly 2,000 miles of iron track across America’s expanse would require vast sums of money – and unimaginable feats of engineering.
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